Protecting Protected Species With High-Tech Barriers

Share

Protecting Protected Species With High-Tech Barriers

Dan Matutina

The animals are back. The elephant count in Namibia has risen from under 10,000 around the turn of the millennium to 20,000 today. Lion and leopard populations have doubled since 2004. And cheetahs, once in decline, now speed across the plains here in numbers larger than anywhere else in the world. Which is a big problem. The creatures in Namibia and elsewhere prowl around ever-expanding human settlements, causing trouble, killing livestock, and potentially getting shot. Luckily, there are some high tech (and a few low-tech) ways to keep the animals alive—and out of the way.

Paw-Print Scanning

Cheetahs and other animals have unique paw prints, so after livestock gets chomped, investigators scan fresh prints into a database. Repeat offenders can be relocated.

Tracking Collars

Fitted onto big cats and elephants, GPS collars transmit location fixes. When a known cattle-killer approaches, ranchers bring their stock in at night. To deter stomping ellies they might use vuvuzelas or guns—the hooting and shooting scares the pachyderms away.

Lion Lights

Placed around cattle enclosures and fields, solar-powered strobe lights charge during the day and switch on automatically at night. The intermittent flashing looks threatening enough to persuade lions, leopards, and elephants to see things our way—cattle and crops aren't snacks for them. They're snacks for us.

Decoy Wells

Thirsty elephants will smash into villages for a drink. So residents dig temptingly undefended boreholes outside their boundaries. The pachyderms take the path of least resistance and keep out.

Beehive Fences

Wooden hives hang from wire between posts that encircle fields in Kenya and Botswana. If an elephant tries to push through, swarms of bees deploy to defend the hive. Elephants hate bees. Elephants decamp.